NADs New AV Components

NAD Now Shipping new AV Receivers and an A/V Tuner Preamp Processor

In one of the most important product launches of its 35 year history, NAD is now delivering four significant new high performance home theatre components. NAD's T785, T775 and T765 AV receivers and the T175 Preamp-Tuner-Processor debut an all-new, highly modular construction system. Read More

While the newest NADs may appear conservative enough, their designs reflect a philosophy altogether distinct from that reflected in today's typical mass-market receivers. NAD has never been afraid to skip the heavily hyped, 'me-too' features and concentrate on functions and technologies that really make the difference in picture and sound. These new models are classic NAD. Instead of incorporating brochure-friendly video processing, or succumbing to the lure of the wattage wars, we've focused on meaningful goals: real-world sonics and power; pristine, non-degraded video, and genuinely ergonomic design and forward-thinking features like our uniquely enhanced Audyssey' auto set-up and calibration.

The new designs maintain NAD's core values beginning with its 'Music First' design philosophy, which declares that state-of-the-art music recordings remain the truest test of any playback system. NAD's belief that home-entertainment products have grown far too complex and user-unfriendly also guided the new designs to their simpler, more intuitive, less intimidating user interface. And NAD's PowerDrive' amplifier design is found throughout the new range, proving once again that on-paper specs are no measure of how loudly, and how faithfully, a receiver will reproduce.

Advanced HDMI and Digital Video

With HDMI digital audio/video interconnection fast gaining acceptance, implementation becomes a key feature for all next-generation AV gear. Yet here as always NAD has elected to follow the Hippocratic principle of 'First, do no harm.' Consequently, while all four new NADs include HDMI 1.3 inputs and switching, they eschew the chip-based video-DSP 'upscaling' that looks so attractive in competitors' brochures, but that so frequently results in video indistinguishable from, or in fact actually inferior to the original source. Instead, the T 785, T 775, and T 175 with four HDMI inputs each, perform superb high-quality HDMI 'cross-conversion,' delivering all analogue-video inputs (composite, S-, or component video) to HDMI with full quality, permitting a single-cable link to the video display. Additionally, the T 785, T 775 and T 175 add even more functionality—with audio processing and On-Screen-Display. The T 765 provides straightforward HDMI switching (video-only), but all four designs perform video transcoding, so that signals from any analogue-video input (composite, S-, or component) are always present at any of these analogue outputs.

All four models route incoming HDMI signals in their original resolution, up to and including 1080p, and of course accept digital-audio via HDMI, simplifying hookup. NAD urges system-designers and end-users to look beyond the hype and observe that the vast majority of systems can derive no meaningful benefit from 1080p signals (a very large screen/close seating-distance are required even to be perceived), and can easily exceed the capabilities of cables or associated equipment. And since the great majority of popular flat-panel and rear-projection hi-def displays incorporate their own, non-bypassable scalers, any upstream scaler, whether a dedicated component or within an AV receiver, is rendered largely pointless. NAD's pure and simple approach avoids the multiple video scaling/processing stages that can actually degrade video performance.

Audyssey's Auto Calibration and MultEQ XT

All of the new components incorporate Audyssey Auto Set-up, a simple yet very sophisticated system that balances and adjusts a multi-channel speaker system using the small, calibrated microphone included with each unit. Audyssey automatically detects speakers, chooses the ideal crossovers, verifies speaker phase and adjusts levels/delays. The T 785 and T 775 receivers, and T 175 pre-pro further add Audyssey's highly developed MultEQ XT Calibration. MultEQ XT exploits sophisticated, proprietary time-domain digital signal processing to reduce the impact of room acoustics upon sonic accuracy, with a truly unique ability to yield a 'family sized' sweet-spot, and to accomplish real gains in accuracy. Equally important, NAD collaborated with Audyssey to develop proprietary 'target curves' that yield real-world response that reflect NAD's commitment to "music first", and genuinely accurate reproduction. The same three models also offer support to Audyssey MultEQ XT Pro the T 785 and T 775 are the first AV receivers to do so. Using MultEQ XT Pro software and the added processing power of a laptop computer, the custom installer/system-designer can derive even more accurate and considerably more extensive room corrections, uploading the final results to the T 175, T 785 or T 775, whose Audyssey processor will implement them.

Modular Construction

The NAD T 785, T 775, T 765 AV receivers and T 175 pre-pro share an entirely new electro-mechanical configuration. This places important circuitry on five fully independent, modular circuit cards, including separate cards for digital audio and HDMI, component video, analogue video, and 2-channel, and multichannel analogue audio. The obvious advantages of this scheme include serviceability and expandability, and easy and cost-effective introduction of new technologies. For example, if and when the Dolby True HD and/or DTS Master lossless multichannel formats become fully useful standards of high-definition discs or other recordings, NAD will make upgraded processing available. With modular construction, and since these models already have the HDMI 1.3 in place, this can be made practicable and affordable.

Full Disclosure Performance and PowerDrive

NAD's reputation for engineering receivers and amplifiers whose real-world performance far outpaces 'speci-fiction' is long established, and this new quartet is no exception. NAD's designs are based on its concept of 'Full Disclosure Power Ratings.' The new receivers, like every NAD design, guarantee power production under 'worst-case' conditions: actual 4 ohms and 8 ohms loads, driven full bandwidth from the deepest bass to the highest overtones (20Hz to 20kHz), with all channels loaded and stressed simultaneously, and performing at a stated, very low (0.05%) distortion level. By contrast, most of the competition measures a single channel, at a single middle frequency, short-term, and at higher distortion—in some cases up to 10 percent! This certainly makes it easier to advertise a 7 x 100 watts receiver but when measured to NAD's standards results are nearly always lower, sometimes by as much as 50 percent. NAD achieves this singular advantage not through technological magic, but by solid, engineering including massive, high-current power-supply design and highest-quality output devices providing generous safe operating area to ensure clean, dynamic, reliable reproduction at all power levels.

But there is in fact one bit of specialized NAD technology involved. PowerDrive is NAD's proprietary power-supply arrangement which holds a measure of current storage in reserve, able to be called upon by the dynamic needs of music or filmsound, both of which can routinely make transient demands of 10 to 20 times their average power requirements, several times a second. With PowerDrive, NAD designs repeatedly outperform components rated for twice as much "on-paper" power, and even more. By "outperform", we mean they play louder, cleaner, with greater dynamic excitement; above all, with more musicality—and without the dynamic compression, flattened imaging, and tinges of harshness audiophiles so often associate with "receiver sound".

These amazing units will bring your favourite music and movies to life in your home entertainment room with an absolute minimum of fuss and a maximum of pure enjoyment.

Music First, and More

NAD's "Music First" mandated careful audio design in the digital domain, too. The quartet exploit latest-generation Aureus 7.1 Audio DSP from Texas Instruments to derive their wide palette of surround formats, including the full range of Dolby Digital and Pro Logic IIx, and DTS ES, 24/96, and NEO:6 modes. This powerful processor also includes NAD's widely praised EARS surround mode for natural surround sound from two-channel recordings. Top-performing Burr Brown DACs are used throughout all four models, with the top three models employing four independent stereo 24/96 DACs each, for truly state-of-the-technology conversion.

While NAD eschews features for their own sake, it actively seeks to incorporate genuinely useful ones. For example, five independent A/V Presets store channel-level, listening-mode, and tone-control settings (among others) for instant recall, making it easy to custom-tailor a system for different types of program material or listener preferences. All four models are XM Ready, requiring only an optional third-party XM Mini-Tuner module to gain access to XM's extensive digital music and talk content, with full system control and display. Also on board each new NAD is a tuner with 40-station presets for your favourite AM/FM or XM stations. FM stations that don't automatically display their name in addition to their broadcast frequency (RDS function), can be given a custom name.

These receivers include a front-panel Universal portable Media Player (3.5mm analogue jack) to connect iPods and similar portable media devices. In addition, the T 775 and T 785 include a rear-panel data port for connecting to an optional NAD IPD-1 Dock for iPod, enabling the AV receivers to control the player and display its "meta-data" using the NAD Illuminated Learning Remote Control. Custom integration/whole-house AV facilities span up to four zones allowing for independent source and volume control. A simplified second-zone remote is included with each receiver, and all models offer a range of flexible 12-volt trigger and IR-connection tools.

The NAD T 785, T 775, T 765 AV receivers and T 175 pre-pro offers remarkable performance and flexibility in a compact and simple to operate package. These amazing units will bring your favourite music and movies to life in your home entertainment room with an absolute minimum of fuss and a maximum of pure enjoyment.